Forget That Nosgoth Is Legacy Of Kain And You’ll Have Fun

Nosgoth is Square Enix’s asymmetrical multiplayer game set in the Legacy of Kain universe. It’s far from the Legacy of Kain game I want, but it’s still a decent free-to-play shooter nonetheless.

During a demo of Nosgoth at E3, I had the chance to run the shooter through its paces. My team gave the other team a thorough stomping, so I’m going to assume that the game is completely balanced, and that I’m just really good.

The game doesn’t have much of a story, but it fits into the series timeline when Raziel is lost in time. During each match, players switch between playing as the humans and the vampires. Humans are traditionally ranged fighters, while vampires are up- close-and-personal, tear-your face-off and the drink-your-blood fighters.

Both sides have different things going for them. During a round of deathmatch, I started with the human hunter class, which is equipped with a repeating crossbow and has the secondary ability to throw grenades or use bolos. Meanwhile the scout has a standard longbow and is functionally like the sniper class. Humans can move quickly through the environment, and function best when they stick together and works as a team. Health stations scattered around the environment help the humans get back into the fight.

The vampires on the other hand are more like lone wolves; they skulk through the environment and can climb walls, making it easy to get the jump on their foes. I played a flying vampire who could soar through the air and pick up humans and then drop them to their death. A Reaver class vampire is good at crouching down and lunging at humans form a distance. Vampires slowly heal over time, and can also suck their foes blood replenish their health.

Interestingly, it seemed like both sides were fairly balanced (because I won both matches), and Psyonix is working on the game while it’s in closed beta to help ensure that it stays balanced. I can’t say that it’s the best shooter hitting the market, but Psyonix is a team of only about 18 people, so the work they’ve done on the game is pretty impressive considering. We still don’t know when the game will officially release to the public, but it should enter open beta soon.

You don't have to take my word for it, check out PC editor, Dan Tack's impression of the game here.

It's a real shame people are writing it off for having the Legacy of Kain name on it. It's a super-inventive, and well-balanced game. Hopefully enough people can look past its name and see the rad game behind it.

It's impossible to forget that it's Legacy of Kain because this is not the game that should have been made. This is a cheap attempt to garner sales using the Legacy of Kain name, and it's sad, because a true Legacy of Kain game could be freaking phenomenal.